Confined

"Liyah!" Demetri called. He waited outside and sounded impatient. I rushed to brush my hair and ran outside to meet him.

Demetri had a matured beauty about him. Most of his boyish features were gone, replaced by the features of an extremely attractive man. He was tall, almost six foot two, with a muscular build. His eyes were a deep brown and sometimes were so dark you couldn't tell where his pupils ended and the brown began. Around his gorgeous eyes were thick but short lashes and above those were even thicker eye brows. His jaw curved in smooth lines that where the only thing that would hint at his age. His full lips pulled up at the corners, flashing a toothy grin.

"Sorry, I sleep, unlike some people," I teased,shoving his arm lightly. He chuckled and reached for my hand, pulling me down the steps of the porch.He led me toward the forest just a little beyond Trisha's house."Where are we doing? You said you had to talk to me," I stated, allowing him to tug me along.

"I do," was all he replied.

As we walked along, Demetri just a few steps ahead of me, I remembered the first time I ever ran into these very trees and met him. I was avoiding my mother and he was avoiding unpacking. It worked out well for the both of us.

He stopped us just short of our tree. The tree we carved our names in and sat under for hours just talking, and as we got older, just kissing. It was one thing that always made me smile and reminded me of how our relationship had worked out so well. It was proof that everyone was wrong about Demetri, about me and about us.

"I'm leaving."

His words brought me away from the tree and back to reality. "What?" I asked, not sure I was processing it correctly.

"I'm leaving," he repeated.

"Okay, well cant you want just another year? I just turned seventeen and next year I can leave with you," I reasoned.

"No, I'm not moving out. I'm leaving." It sounded more like a promise than a statement.

"Back up, I'm confused. If your not moving out, what are you talking about?" I asked, completely and utterly confused. What did he mean, "leaving"?

"I'm going away. Away from Nidrus," he explained, leaning against a tree, his arms crossed over his chest and propping his foot against the trunk.

"You cant do that," I laughed thinking he was joking. "There is nothing out there but crazed animals hungry for meat. You wont last."

"Aaliyah," he sighed my full name, something he never did unless frustrated. "There are things you don't know and I'm hoping you never have to find out." He looked away, focusing his gaze on a rock near my feet.

"So, your just going to leave? Your not gonna think about all the dangers and all the pain, your just going to go?" I questioned, hoping he would feel bad and change his mind. Of course I knew he wouldn't. I knew he already thought his whole plan through. I knew he wouldn't change his mind. I still had to try.

"Yes," he answered coldly.

"What about me? Us?" Tears were forming, and fast. My breathing hitched and felt like sandpaper in my lungs. My hands began to tremble beside me.

Demetri didn't answer for a long moment. I could hear his steady breathing over my hyperventilation. He stood up straight and crossed over to me,taking my hands in his and squeezing them gently. My breathing returned to the normal exciting breathing that usually happened when he touched me. My heart raced as usual. But the sandpaper in my lungs remained and the tears still threatened to over flow.

"It doesn't matter anymore. I'm leaving," he finally answered, sending me over the ledge.

I yanked my hands from his, tears flooding my eyes and pooling onto my face. My breaths came out in puffs as I forced my body to breathe when it wouldn't. My stomach lurched and twisted. My body rejected the idea of him leaving.

"Why! Whats the point of leaving? Explain it to me, because I don't understand! You come here, after years of telling me we will always be together, and tell me your leaving!" I screamed, shoving him away when he took a step closer.

"Things are complicated," he simply answered.

"Of course they are! Things are always complicated with you, you never have a simple answer for anything! I'm starting to wonder if everything you ever said to me was a lie." My voice started strong but ended in a whisper. Where had all this anger come from? I never yelled at Demetri like this.

"I'm leaving,"he said, his eyes fixed with a cold glare on mine.

Sobs ripped through my body. My knees buckled beneath me and gravity pulled me down. Tears spilled out like a facial waterfall. I caught myself with my hands, sinking my fingers into the mud and leaves.

"Of course you are. I knew it was too good to be true," I choked out,my voice scratchy and pained. I forced a hard chuckle that sounded like something the bad guy in a story would do. "I guess they were right."

It was quiet. I found my feet and rose to a standing position, though I was still shaky. I glanced around, finding only trees. Demetri left. Something inside of me fell apart as I allowed the tears to consume my face and the sobs to fill the silence.

My eyes met the tree. Anger and heartbreak filled me. I pointed my palms at the tree and allowed heat to pour out. I could feel my body temperature dropping as my hands blazed with fire. It shot through my hands, landing on the carvings that said " Liyah+Dem=4ever". The stump caught fire and the carvings soon disappeared into black. When nothing was left of our love declaration, I turned to fire off and the heat returned to my body.

I could feel eyes following me as I made my way out of the forest. I caught the glimpse of black hair in the corner of my eye. I groaned with aggravation and forced a tree to fall over with my hands. Mason stood behind it, now surprised to see his hiding spot gone and himself exposed.I glared at him with puffy, red eyes.

Mason, though he was still shocked he had been discovered, had an apologetic look in his eyes. Mason was what most would call a ladies man. He had long shaggy dark hair and dark eyes. He was barely six foot and had some muscle beneath the bulk of his baggy black cloths. His hiking boots sloshed their way towards me. His sweet face turned into a face of sorrow. He wrapped a lanky arm around me.

I shoved it off. "Thanks, Mase. You were right, he wasn't right,"I told him, a hidden meaning behind my words that I knew he would understand. I walked off and left him standing alone. It wasn't his fault, but still I was angry at him. Mason had something to do with Demetri leaving, I just didn't know what.

My mind swirled back to the present. The blonde released my face and stood up. She clicked her heels towards Mason. "You where there when he left?" It sounded more like a statement then a question.

"So?"he replied.

"That's a piece of information that could be vital to the search, you very well know that," she spat, moving past him and stalking out of the room.

"Why you go looking through memories that are pretty irrelevant. We all knew he left. You could have searched her mind for what she was looking for tonight," he whispered to himself. "I am surrounded by morons," he shook his head, finally meeting my gaze.

I wanted to ask Mason why he changed. Besides the obvious reason that he conformed to the will of his controlling father, there had to be another reason why he wasn't still the Mason I was best friends with. Instead of asking, I kept quiet.

"You can leave," he waved his hand in the air, then followed the blonde girl.

He was not the same boy I remembered.